Mothercare to a close a number of high street stores

Mothercare is to close 110 outlets and focus on out-of-town superstores. Rents will be cut on a further 40 stores said the company. The new focus will be on out-of-town Parenting Centres, which contain its Early Learning Centre brand.

Most of the closures will be stores where the lease expires over the next two years. Mothercare has 120 of these, which will limit the cost to £5 million, it said.

Total store numbers in the UK will decline from 373 to 266, with 102 of these set to be out-of-town Parenting Centres.

The group, which warned about weak UK sales in March, said it expects big savings from the restructuring.

Its UK problems meant pre-tax profits fell from £32.5 million to £8.8 million in the year to March, despite another strong performance from its international business, where sales jumped by 16%.

As well as reducing its exposure to the high street, Mothercare will invest in the remaining estate and has developed new store formats, one for Mothercare and one for the Early Learning Centre, which it will trial over the next few months.

"The formats provide an improved shopping environment, enhanced displays, signage and store layouts and better Early Learning Centre positioning in Mothercare stores," the company said.